


locked windows at midnight

by towokuwusatsuwu



Series: Pride 2018: 30 Days of S.W.O.R.D. [25]
Category: HiGH&LOW: the Story of S.W.O.R.D. (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Insecurity, Late Night Conversations, Multi, Polyamory, Sneaking Out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 09:10:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15045698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/towokuwusatsuwu/pseuds/towokuwusatsuwu
Summary: Between the two of them, they dump a handful of snack foods on Todoroki’s desk, looking particularly proud of themselves as they go back to how they were sitting and lying before. Convenience store stuff, potato chips, a couple of rice balls, a couple of sandwiches, a few sweet things here and there. Everything is something Todoroki likes, in his favorite flavors, and his heart thuds particularly hard at the sight of all of it.“What is all this?” he asks, aware of how small his voice sounds.“Well, if you were gonna be up late, you were gonna be studying.” Tsuji clicks his tongue, then kicks his shoes off, just letting them lie beside the bed, because of course he does. “And if you were wrapped up in studying at this hour, you probably hadn’t eaten since dinner. Which means you were going to be hungry. So we stopped at the corner store on our way here.”Shibaman nods to confirm this, and they both look so proud. “We remembered most of your favorites. Bet you thought we didn’t even pay attention to stuff like this.”





	locked windows at midnight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jude_writes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jude_writes/gifts).



The small tapping sound against his window is what finally convinces Todoroki to turn his attention away from the spread of textbooks, notebooks, and his laptop set out in front of him. The clock in the corner of the screen informs him the time is just past midnight and he winces to learn this information, not having intended to stay up past eleven. He needs to sleep so he can prepare for finals, had planned on doing a little studying, then a little reading, before he turned in for the evening. Pulling these late nights is slowly but surely going to tank his grades. He still remembers watching kids drop off in the middle of tests, unable to handle the fatigue.

In the back of his mind, he knows as well as anyone else that he has a high likelihood of becoming one of those kids. After all, his laser focus on his studies pays off in the long-run, but handling the stress of trying to study so he can keep up with the material is what threatens to sink him. Being naturally bright, able to absorb most information that comes his way, does not  guarantee that it is going to be an easy task for him to stay head of his studies. It would be bad form to crash and burn before he even makes it to university, after all.

The insistent tapping catches his attention again and he sighs, pushing his glasses off to pinch the bridge of his nose, rubbing the skin there before he stands up from his desk to investigate the window. No part of him is worried about what might be on the other side; no one with anything less than a gun can be a threat to him because Todoroki has honed himself into a deadly weapon, his body just as effective as any weapon ever could be. He has fights with Murayama once or twice a month just to toughen himself up even further.

He peels back the curtain and startles at the sight of two people leaning directly in front of his window, their faces illuminated by the light on his desk. He stops to listen, making sure there are no sounds in the house, no signs of anyone else being awake, before he unlocks the window and lets his boyfriends in. The urge to chastise them for doing this to him is on the tip of his tongue, but he bites down on it and steps back, letting Tsuji and Shibaman tumble into the room. Tsuji, at least, makes sure to shut the window for him, locking it back.

“Sorry, but you said not to use the front door,” Shibaman says, his voice casually too loud.

Todoroki shushes him and closes the curtains, not wanting anyone to notice the patch of light on the grass outside. “I know I did. My family doesn’t know yet, and I intend to keep it that way.”

The desire to be himself is strong, but he knows better than to enforce such a thing while he still lives here, knows his freedom will come when he can escape to university and create an entirely new identity for himself. When he goes to Oya High each morning, he can be who he wants to be; Murayama strictly enforces only a few ordinances across the high school as their leader, and one of them is that none of the students are supposed to be treated differently for being themselves. Todoroki doesn’t want to admit how grateful he is for this.

“Right, right. We knew you’d still be up at this hour. You know it’s past midnight, right?” Tsuji thumps down on the bed, hands tucked behind his head, making himself right at home.

Todoroki rolls his eyes. “Shouldn’t you both be in bed, by that logic?”

“Don’t care about grades and tests as much as you do. Long as we pass, we good. You’re the one out here trying to change the world.” Shibaman steals his desk chair, making a face at the homework and notes spread out in front of him. “What is all this shit, anyway?”

It would be easy to get him on this, because at least half of this material comes from the classes they share, and he should be able to recognize it. Todoroki only shakes his head, leaning over him to close the notebooks, tucking loose papers back into their folders and binders. “Nothing.”

“He’s too smart for his own good.” Tsuji sits up then, rifling through his pockets. “Wait.”

Shibaman hums, shifting on the chair to do the same. “Yeah, that’s right. Almost forgot.”

Between the two of them, they dump a handful of snack foods on Todoroki’s desk, looking particularly proud of themselves as they go back to how they were sitting and lying before. Convenience store stuff, potato chips, a couple of rice balls, a couple of sandwiches, a few sweet things here and there. Everything is something Todoroki likes, in his favorite flavors, and his heart thuds particularly hard at the sight of all of it.

“What is all this?” he asks, aware of how small his voice sounds.

“Well, if you were gonna be up late, you were gonna be studying.” Tsuji clicks his tongue, then kicks his shoes off, just letting them lie beside the bed, because of course he does. “And if you were wrapped up in studying at this hour, you probably hadn’t eaten since dinner. Which means you were going to be hungry. So we stopped at the corner store on our way here.”

Shibaman nods to confirm this, and they both look so  _ proud _ . “We remembered most of your favorites. Bet you thought we didn’t even pay attention to stuff like this.”

Todoroki had. The three of them are still young, still feeling out whatever this is between the three of them after building a strange relationship based on the fact both of them lost to him and developed respect for him because of it. What came after was tentative and hesitant, Murayama smacking him in the back of the head and telling him to get his nose out of a book long enough to see what was right in front of him, the first true fresh burn of jealousy, the rush of a first kiss shared with two different people. The fact two people wanted to kiss him at all.

Not that he doesn’t love them, but they aren’t particularly bright, self-admitted as it is. He wouldn’t have put it past them not to notice little things like this.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Tsuji calls out, and Todoroki hurries to shush him. “You haven’t eaten since you started studying, and that was probably hours ago. Sit down and eat.”

There is nowhere else to sit in his bedroom, so Todoroki ends up sitting on Shibaman’s lap though he protests he can always sit on the bed, where there’s more room. Shibaman refuses to hear it, simply wraps his arms around Todoroki’s waist to keep him balanced, keep him perched on his knees, and Todoroki can feel Shibaman’s cheek against his back. He wonders if Shibaman can hear the way his heart speeds up at the small touch from this angle.

They must know how much this overwhelms him, surely. There are so many things Todoroki knows and yet picking up on the small things— knowing how to stop himself from blushing, how to act like everything his boyfriends do for him doesn’t fluster him— have escaped his grasp.

“You two look so cute together,” Tsuji sing-songs from the bed, throwing his hands up when Todoroki starts to move. “No, no! Stay there. Listen, I like looking at you two together.”

“Sap,” Shibaman mutters at him. Tsuji flips him off for good measure.

Todoroki picks through the offerings and picks up a sandwich, pulling the wrapping off of it and taking a bite. The egg salad is smooth and creamy, the bread soft though it had been shoved in their pockets. Had they been extra careful with it? It doesn’t seem possible that a person could be careful climbing up the side of a house, but he wouldn’t put it past them.

He wouldn’t put anything past them at this point.

“You two really shouldn’t be here so late,” he says, swallowing around the sandwich, and he hears Shibaman’s hum of confusion, feels it against his skin. “It’s so late. It’s going to be a long walk home for you, isn’t it? Because you know you can’t stay here.”

“You get so worried about things like this. We knew that when we came, y’know.” Shibaman leans away from him and Todoroki bites back a whine, jumping just a little when he gets a kiss on the back of his neck, warm and familiar. “We might be dumb but we thought about this. ‘Sides, like we said, we don’t sleep as much as you do.”

“Still,” Todoroki mutters, wadding the plastic up in his fingers, gripping it tight.

Shibaman takes it from him and pitches it toward the trashcan, whooping softly when it makes it in. Tsuji holds all ten fingers up at him.

“Still what?” Tsuji asks, and Todoroki flushes and ducks his head. “Yeah, okay, maybe it wasn’t the best idea we’ve ever had. Coming here in the middle of the night when it’s already late just to drop off some snacks. You weren’t gonna die if you didn’t eat a little bit after all this studying. But we wanted to see you, and this seemed like as good a time as any.”

“If you want us to leave, we can. But we’d rather stay a little while and steal some time with our favorite boyfriend,” Shibaman says, and he squeezes Todoroki around the waist, just a little.

The comment has Todoroki twisting around to look down at him. “Favorite boyfriend? I better be your only boyfriend. I haven’t heard of you two having another boyfriend.”

“We don’t, he’s just an idiot. Remember, we’re dumb. Okay, and now I’m a little lonely.” Tsuji bounds across the room to collect all the snacks, dumping them on Todoroki’s bedside table. “So you two come over here and we’ll all sit together for a little bit.”

Todoroki doesn’t get to stand and walk across his own bedroom floor, because why would one of his boyfriends ever let him do something so simple? Instead, Shibaman twists him around in his lap so he can carry him like a princess across the floor, setting him nearly on the mattress next to Tsuji before dropping down next to him, jostling the entire bed. Todoroki rolls his eyes and then Tsuji dumps all the food in his lap, slipping an arm around his waist.

“Much better,” he proclaims, beaming at both of them before kissing Todoroki on the cheek.

It always feels a little strange to sit between them, never able to shake the feeling that he’s  _ between _ them, the one that claws at his chest during quiet and unsuspecting moments when he foolishly lets his guard drop. But right now, he feels warm and content between the two of them, and it doesn’t escape him that they’d come here in the dark to see him, and prepared themselves to take care of him in case he was still awake. It makes his chest ache.

Shibaman keeps an arm around his shoulders and Tsuji has one around his waist, and the minute Todoroki tries to pass himself off as full, he has to hush them both once more when they insist he hasn’t eaten nearly enough. It’s a nice evening, all things considered. He doesn’t even think about going back to studying when it’s time for them to go.

Both of them get a kiss at the window, Todoroki flushed the entire time. He watches them take off across his dark yard before shutting the window, locking it, and pulling the curtains. Except for the food wrappers in his trashcan, they might as well have never been here.

He turns off his light and heads to bed soon after. They wouldn’t want him staying up any later, anyway.


End file.
